Geeta eligible to compete again

The National Anti-Doping Appeals Panel has rejected Geeta Rani’s appeal to exonerate her and upheld the order of disciplinary panel. Having completed her two-year ban she is eligible to compete again.

The appeal panel in its order on July 6 upheld the verdict of Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel which had imposed ineligibility of two years to Geeta.

Geeta, a 2006 Commonwealth Games gold medalist, tested positive for anabolic steroid in the samples collected during the 2015 National Games held in Kerala. The lifter had challenged the order of disciplinary panel that had had agreed that she could not have consumed prohibited substance intentionally and therefore reduced her sentence from maximum of 4 years of ineligibility to two years.

WADA had appealed this decision with CAS around the same time as Geeta appealed to NADAP. At NADA’s request, however, WADA withdrew that appeal, pending resolution of the appeal in India. Now that this appeal has been disposed of, it is to be expected WADA will file an appeal with CAS for enhancement of sanction from two years to four years.

Parth Goswami and Hemant Phalpher who were the counsels for the weightlifter had argued there was a case of sabotage by a fellow competitor.

The appeal panel noted that “the Disciplinary Panel had held that appellant cannot be held guilty of violating the rules intentionally. We find no good reason to disagree with this finding of disciplinary panel.”